The perpetually delayed inquiry into the Iraq war, the Chilcot report, is likely not to report until after the general election, according to the BBC.
The inquiry into the controversial 2003 war was announced by Gordon Brown in June 2009, and commenced in November that year. It concluded in February 2011, so we have now been waiting over three and a half years for it to release its findings. David Cameron said in May that he hoped the Chilcot inquiry would be unveiled by the end of 2014, but that target was missed. The PM acknowledged this at the end of last year, claiming that he did not know when it would come out, and insisting: “It is important in our system these sort of reports are not controlled or timed by the government.”
It now looks like the constant set-backs plaguing the inquiry, and angering those who want to see the truth come out about a devastating and unpopular war, will delay it further until after the election on 7 May.
All three of the main Westminster parties have lamented the news of this delay:
Labour established the Chilcot inquiry because it is crucial we learn the lessons of Iraq.
While the timing is a formal matter for Sir John Chilcot we have always said the inquiry should report as soon as practically possible.
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The BBC reports that the Prime Minister is expected to write to the inquiry to “restate his frustration” at the delay in publication of the report, and argue that it should have come out before the election.
And Nick Clegg said this latest development would cause the public, so sceptical about our politicians’ decision to go into Iraq in the first place, to assume all this stalling has been caused by those criticised in the reportedly “punchy” findings attempting to “sex it down”.
However, it’s only really the Deputy Prime Minister’s outrage that rings true; the Lib Dems voted against the Iraq war. Part of the reason Chilcot has been so delayed is due to the neglect of the subject by the Tories and Labour.
At the end of last year, I heard from a well-placed MP that it was only very shortly before a Westminster Hall debate on the Chilcot inquiry was called at the end of October last year that the Cabinet Office minister for civil society, Rob Wilson MP, discovered that the Chilcot inquiry was even part of his brief. He and those asked to speak about Chilcot at the debate apparently only found out “five minutes ago” that the subject was their responsibility.
The low priority given to Chilcot is also there on the Labour side. I hear from one Labour MP that they are reluctant to speak in public about Chilcot in case, “we have to either defend the war, or go all ‘Bliar Administration’ about it, which obviously we’re not going to do”.
Only the Lib Dems, who voted against the war, have a leg to stand on when it comes to decrying the Chilcot delay. If David Cameron and Ed Miliband had seen it as a truly pressing concern, then they would not have left their lament of its postponement until it was too late.
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